United Nations, Sep 25: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly defended his country’s bombing of Iran claiming, “If we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead”.

In his address to the General Assembly on Thursday, he also shot down accusations of carrying out a “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza, calling it “the greatest lie of the century”.

On Iran, he said, “Israel and America acted together, not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization”.

“In this battle against the barbarians, we’ve had no greater partner than President (Donald) Trump”, he said.

Both countries bombed several targets in Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ali Khameini and several leaders.

That attack, however, led to Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz and choking off 20 per cent of petroleum and gas supplies that pass through it, setting off an economic crisis that affects many countries.

The US and its allies have not been able to bring the conflict to an end.

As he stepped up to the podium to speak, delegates from dozens of countries walked out, and Netanyahu shouted at them, “Cowards”.

His supporters countered, shouting in Hebrew, “Am Yisrael Chai,” meaning “Nation of Israel Lives”.

Netanyahu projected a powerful country that was fighting on seven fronts, against “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea Samaria (West Bank)”.

“They all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the Earth. They failed”, he said.

When Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023, he said, “We didn’t collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions”.

In Israel’s massive retaliation, 70,000 people are said to have died.

Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas, who spoke before Netanyahu, had accused Israel of conducting a “genocidal war” in Gaza.

“Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century”, he said and asked rhetorically if it was a “genocidal regime”, would it have given a million polio vaccinations to the enemy’s population or enabled the distribution of two million tons of food in Gaza.

One of the many leaders he attacked was Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he called “a tyrant who also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs”.

He accused the leaders of Western countries of having “chosen to succumb to the antisemitic mobs”.

Some countries, Britain being the latest, have put limited sanctions on Israeli products from the West Bank.

“Many in the free world are afraid to defend freedom”, he asserted.

He brushed aside the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank as the work of “a handful of juvenile delinquents”.

Even though it is magnified in the media, he said, he doesn’t tolerate them and is taking action because “we’re a country of law”.

Tokyo, Sep 25: The death toll rose to 11, with three others still missing, after heavy rain brought by a large typhoon lashed the Kanto region in eastern Japan and triggered landslides and flooding earlier this week, local media reported Friday.

Among the deaths, seven were confirmed in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, while four were confirmed in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of the capital. The most recently found victim was a woman in her 70s who had been reported missing after a landslide in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Police and firefighters are continuing to search for the missing people, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Typhoon Dujuan, which approached Japan’s eastern Pacific coast on Monday, brought record rainfall to the Kanto region and the Izu Islands, triggering landslides and river flooding and wreaking havoc in areas near Tokyo, particularly in Chiba Prefecture.

As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 1,000 buildings in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures have been destroyed, damaged, or flooded due to the typhoon, NHK reported.

At Lake Imbanuma in northern Chiba, some levees were breached following the typhoon, leaving surrounding residential areas, rice paddies and streets inundated. Although water levels have been gradually falling, flooding continues, with recovery work ongoing into Friday.

The typhoon also caused considerable inconvenience to daily life and transportation. As of around 6 am local time on Friday, about 11,790 households in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures were still without power. Train services in Chiba were suspended or reduced on certain sections of many lines, with some services not expected to resume for about three months.

Meanwhile, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, another typhoon, the 26th of the season, could approach the country in the coming days, potentially bringing rough seas and severe weather to the southern island prefecture of Okinawa and other areas.

New Delhi, Sep 25: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has reportedly changed its approach towards fugitive underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim, with greater emphasis now being placed on keeping him secure and moving him to a location near Karachi port.

Intelligence officials said the move is aimed at protecting the narcotics network linked to him while reducing the risk of international scrutiny falling on Islamabad.

He is considered a key figure in the syndicate that has been operating a narcotics smuggling network in India for several years.

For the Pakistani spy agency, which has supported Dawood Ibrahim over the years, the current situation is proving increasingly difficult. The agency needs funds to sustain terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Intelligence inputs suggest that this has increased the pressure on the network to expand the narcotics trade substantially.

An official said the ISI would have wanted Dawood Ibrahim to use his network to significantly expand narcotics smuggling operations. “However, the focus now is more on creating escape routes, taking care of his health and also ensuring his safety,” the official said.

While Dawood is reportedly suffering from several health problems, he is alive and continues to remain in Karachi. Following Operation Sindoor in May last year, the ISI is believed to have stepped up his security and moved him between different locations to avoid detection.

“He is currently living near a port in Karachi, and this location was chosen so that he could make a quick escape in case of an Indian operation that would look to target him,” the official added.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the reason he is being kept at a location from where he could make a quick escape is that if he is killed in an operation, then it would become amply clear that Pakistan has been housing him.

Islamabad has over the years vehemently denied his presence in Pakistan.

While Operation Sindoor inflicted significant damage on Pakistan’s terror infrastructure, it also altered the operating environment for the Dawood syndicate. Dawood, who had largely remained in the security of his Karachi residence, was forced to change his movements and operating pattern following the operation.

“Today when it comes to Dawood, the ISI is focusing more on ensuring his protection rather than using him for operations,” the IB official added.

The Narendra Modi government’s intensified crackdown on drugs has also disrupted the ISI’s plans to a considerable extent. The arrest of Dawood’s close aide, Salim Dola, has unsettled the syndicate’s international operations and disrupted established supply chains. In India, enforcement agencies are continuing their relentless pursuit of narcotics networks and cartels.

Another official said that in such a situation, Dawood becomes extremely handy for the ISI. There are the likes of Anees Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Haji Salim to run the show. But Dawood is a cult figure for the syndicate, and with him not to be seen, many of the operatives have developed low morale, the official said.

The ISI would look for ways to ramp up narcotics smuggling in India. There is a major push that is being made through Punjab. However, the ISI would want the trade to thrive in all parts of the country, as raising funds from only Punjab operations is not sufficient to nurture the various terror groups in Pakistan, officials say.

In addition to Dawood’s poor health and security issues, there is also a succession battle within the syndicate. Shakeel feels he is far more useful and has contributed much more than the rest for the syndicate.

However, the family members are rooting for Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim to take charge, officials also point out.

Another official said that the ISI has multiple problems when it comes to the Dawood syndicate.

It cannot afford so many problems, especially with this syndicate at a time when it wants to raise funds in a big way through narcotics smuggling.

On the other hand, concealing his location and not letting the world know that he is in Pakistan is also important for the ISI. The country is also under close scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and hence it becomes important to secure and cover Dawood Ibrahim, who is a key figure in terror funding, counterfeiting, and money laundering.

A weakened D-Company is good news for the Indian security agencies. Such issues would help the investigating agencies crack cases better and further weaken the Dawood network within India.

If the agencies manage to do this, a considerable amount of the narcotics smuggling problem in the country would be solved, an official said.